Battle of Xiakou

The Battle of Xiakou was fought in 203 AD between the armies of Sun Quan and Huang Zu. The battle saw Sun Quan's general Ling Cao die in battle with Huang Zu's officer Gan Ning,

Campaign
By 202 AD, the southern warlord Sun Quan had succeeded to the heritage of his father Sun Jian and brother Sun Ce and invited several talented generals to join him, including Kan Ze, Yan Jun, Xue Yong, Cheng Bing, Zhu Huan, Lu Ji, Zhang Wen, Luo Tong, Wu Can, Lu Meng, Lu Xun, Xu Sheng, Pan Zhang, and Ding Feng. That same year, he refused to submit to Cao Cao as a vassal, and Cao Cao decided against attacking Sun Quan due to his preoccupations with his northern wars.

Battle
In 203 AD, Sun Quan led his armies against Liu Biao's vassal Huang Zu and fought on the Yangtze River, where he was successful in several battles. One of his generals, Ling Cao, led a fleet of light vessels up the river and broke into Xiakou, where he was killed by an arrow fired by Huang Zu's general Gan Ning, a former pirate. Ling Cao's fifteen-year-old son Ling Tong led a successful expedition to recover his father's body, and Sun Quan decided to return to his own country as the war went against him.

Aftermath
After the inconclusive battle at Xiakou, Sun Quan returned home and suppressed all brigandage in the Southlands, and he built a large fleet of 7,000 battleships under the command of Zhou Yu. By 208 AD, Sun Quan was ready for another attack against Huang Zu, and Lu Meng helped him convince Gan Ning to defect; Gan Ning had been passed over for promotion by Huang Zu due to his pirate background, so Lu Meng and Su Fei convinced Gan Ning to join forces with Sun Quan as he showed off against his former master.